Rod Stewart, Forever Young In Ottawa | Canadian Tire Centre

Sometimes when you look forward to seeing one of your idols perform, you maybe expect too much and you are sometimes left disappointed. That was not the case on Friday evening when Rod Stewart brought his 2018 World Tour to Canadian Tire Centre. The crowd was a mix of ages but leaned toward middle aged people there to hear the legend who started out in the early sixties with The Jeff Beck Group and The Faces before embarking on his own extremely successful solo career. Stewart has had a career spanning over 50 years in music, releasing his first single in 1964.

As the crowd filed into the arena, the Ottawa Police Pipe Band entertained, moving around the floor to different locations. The crowd enjoyed the Scottish flavour and were quite enthusiastic with their applause for each song.

The stage was shrouded by a huge black and white checkered curtain that curled inward at the ends, blocking any view of the stage. When the lights finally went down, you could hear the recorded intro music which sounds like something from an old western, then the opening bars of “Soul Finger” took over as the curtain lifted, revealing a large, open stage with the same black and white checkerboard theme, including drums, and even a mic stand at the front that would be Stewart’s.

When the band shifted into Infatuation and Stewart became visible at the side, the crowd erupted in applause. At 73 years old, Rod is likely the world’s oldest teenager, coming out right from the start acting like, well, Rod Stewart! The stage was set up very clean, no unneeded clutter, allowing Rod and band to move about easily, playing to everyone, giving us all his signature poses and sometimes even some dance moves. The backdrop was made up of several panels which produced pictures or patterns that sometimes created moods, other times showing us pictures, all the while giving us the closed circuit views of what was taking place onstage for the people further back.

Let’s talk about the band! I tried all over the internet to find the names of the band members, but had no luck. Unfortunate because they deserve to get the credit due to them. This band simply blows you away! Two drummers and a third percussionist playing various instruments, blending perfectly for a huge drum sound. As Rod pointed out at one point, there were several beautiful women on the stage and believe me, they were not there for their looks alone. These women can play! Several of the ladies were multi instrumentalists, playing violin, percussion, mandolin, guitar and even a harp! There were also three backup singers that can sing and dance like crazy too!

The first part of the concert was a visit to some of Stewart’s hits like “Young Turks”, “Some Guys Have All The Luck” and “Tonight’s The Night”, all of which were very well received. After this, Stewart explained to the audience his fondness of the military people, past and present and dedicated “Rhythm Of My Heart” to them, it was very moving. This was followed by a good ole Rock’n’ Roll standard called “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”, which he explained was to pay homage to his roots and to the singers that so greatly influenced him in his early years.

Later in the show, Stewart and the core of his band sat at the front of the stage and played a series of songs acoustically which was amazing to hear. This is where we heard some ballads like “You’re In My Heart” and “Have I Told You Lately” but my personal favorite in this part of the show was a song he dedicated to the students March For Our Lives movement, “People Get Ready”. A very moving part of the show.

When the acoustic portion of the show was complete, it was time for the backup singers to take over for a fantastic rendition of “Proud Mary”. It was time for the singers to shine, and shine they did. To say these ladies are talented is an understatement, they are beyond belief!

There were a few high points for me nearing the end of the show such as The Faces single hit, “Stay with Me”, where Stewart kicked a couple of dozen autographed soccer balls to various parts of the crowd. He can kick a ball too. The main part of the show concluded with the most famous Rod Stewart hit of them all, “Maggie May”. During this song, we saw dozens of photographs on the screens depicting different points in Stewart’s life and career. Pictures of him with his kids, friends, other musicians he has worked with and family. It was like flipping through Stewart’s private scrapbook. Very fitting end to the show.

To finish things off, the encore was a lengthy version of “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”. When the curtain finally came down you felt satisfied that you had witnessed one of the greatest performers in the business today. He still has it and he gives it to you in concert. For more on Rod and future dates visit www.rodstewart.com

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